Tag Archives: AYCJ

Everything really is bigger in Texas, especially the amounts of excess you can indulge in. I mean, one of my mottoes in life is ‘Anything worth doing is worth overdoing.’ Texas seems to embrace that ideal. Everything is just as you know it, just carried to the nth degree. For example, during my stay in Austin one of the days was a Saturday during college football season, so I needed to find a bar in which to watch my Huskies play. I looked up a few likely candidates and went to check them out. I knew I had found the right bar for me when I walked in, went up to the bar and amidst all of the requisite sports bar fixtures found Zwack, on tap. Let me say that again, Zwack, on tap.

I imagine the conversation that resulted in that decision probably went something along these lines.

“You know, Jäger on tap is everywhere, and I like daring people to take shots of black, herbally, bitter things. What’ll make us stand out?”

“Yeah, shots on a dare are great!”

“Let’s go to the liquor store and get one of everything from the shelf that Jäger is on and try them all!”

Time passes, many bottles, shots, and beers later…….

“Holy hell what was that last one?!”

“I think it says Zwack or something, you should have seen your face pucker!”

“That’s the one! Let’s put it on tap, and not some weak ass cooler machine, it gets a tap!”

For me though, it was a nirvana moment. Clouds parted, hosannas were sung, and I had found my home for the next several hours. That Zwack handle became my friend as the need to dull the pain grew more and more acute as my team sucked it up. We were terrible that day, and ice cold amaro dispensed in volume made it so much better.

I’d also like to take this moment to thank the genius who invented breakfast tacos. You sir, or madam, need one of those Bud Light Real Men of Genius commercials, except not ironic. In this wonderful time we live in of combining two things that are great into one awesome mashup, this has to be one of the most successful ever. Breakfast food, good. Tacos, good. Place one in the other and enjoy, what’s not to like? Thank you Texas. Continue reading →

My All You Can Jet travels would begin in San Francisco. Taboo Absinthe in hand, it was nice to visit a familiar city that I had been to many times in the past to kick off the long trek. I visited a multitude of bars by day hawking my hooch, and then visiting even more by night for “research” purposes. I would get a lot of “research” done over the course of the month, a lot of research. Familiar places and new, there had been some really great new openings in San Francisco in the recent past.

One of the ones I was most excited about was Bar Agricole. Rum is my first love among all spirits and rhum agricole is first in my heart among r(h)um. Bar Agricole if you can’t tell from the name makes an especial emphasis on rhum agricole, making my heart leap with joy and anticipation. There is a phenomenal patio out front, exactly the most perfect place possible to have a refreshing beverage on a late summer night. I knew I’d be spending many visits here in the future.

Carpe vitae! Every now and then an opportunity presents itself that you know you will kick yourself forever if you turn it down. So, why turn it down? One night sitting on the internet a message came through, Jet Blue was doing their All You Can Jet pass again. Visions of flitting from place to place sprang to mind, seeing old friends and new, eating and drinking in exciting new places, and in distant favourites that had faded in the mists of memory. Bars to visit, spirits to try, stupid things to do, and promises to fulfil, all these bloomed in my mind tantalizing me with possibilities. I found myself credit card in hand buying a ticket, and the reality that this was going to happen set in.